Shoe-form.



W. S. LOUGEE.

SHOE FORM.

APPLICATION TILED Mn 10, 1912.

1,087,308. Patented Feb. 17, 1914.

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UNITED STATES "PATEN T OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. LOUGEE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR T0 J. SPAULDING &

SONS COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A FIRM.

SHOE-FORM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 10, 1912.

Patented Feb. 17, 1914.. Serial No. 696,315.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, l/VILLIAM S. Lo onn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Strafford and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Forms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to shoe forms.

The object of the present invention is to produce a shoe form having improved mechanism for expanding the shoe form to fill out the shoe.

lVith the above object in view, the present invention relates to the improvements in shoe forms hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 1 is a side view of the form shown in a shoe, part of the form and shoe being broken away to expose the expanding mechanism of the form; Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the form illustrating its expanding mechanism in more detail; and Fig. 3 is a side view of the form tilted slightly to expose the bottom.

Referring to the drawings, the shoe form comprises a forepart 2 and a heel part 4. Both the heel part and forepart are shells molded from single pieces of sheet material such as leatherboard, which although stiff enough to retain its molded shape, is sufficiently flexible so that the shell-like forepart can be expanded to fill out the shoe,

as hereinafter described. The heel part is hinged to the forepart by means of two rivets (3. The heel part has the general shape of a shoe counter. The forepart is shaped like the forepart of a last and has a longitudinal opening 8 in the bottom extending from the toe to the heel part. Since the material is flexible, the shell-like forepart can be reduced in size by drawing together the edges of the opening 8 and expanded by pushing these edges apart. For the purpose of expanding the forepart after the form is placed in the shoe, a toggle 12 is connected across the opening 8 just back of the ball portion of the form. A link 14 is.

connected from the middle joint of the togconnected to the heel gle to a rivet 16 in the heel portion. The rivet 16 is located back of the rivets 6 and consequently is eccentric to the axis, of the hinge which is formed between the heel part and the fore part by the rivets 6, so that when the heel is turned up, as shown in Fig. 1, the toggle 12 is broken and the edges of the opening 8 are drawn together to reduce the size of the forepart. The form is inserted in the shoe in the posit-ion shown in Fig. 1 and then the heel part is pushed down into the position illustrated in Fig. 3. The link 14 is pushed forwardly by the pivotal movement of the heel part 4 about the hinge rivets 6, and the toggle 12 is straightened pushing apart the edges of the opening 8 and expanding the forepart 2 of the form so that it fills out the shoe, and draws the forepart of the shoe upper smooth and free from wrinkles. In Fig. 2 the form expanded by the straightened toggle 12 is shown in full lines, while the outline of the form and the broken position of the toggle when the form is reduced in size is indicated in dotted lines.

The shoe form is very light in weight. It has very few parts so that it is simple and cheapto manufacture. The toggle 12 and link 14 are hardly noticeable when the form is in a shoe so that the form presents a very neat and attractive appearance when used for displaying shoes in show windows and the like.

lVhile the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been specifically illustrated and described, it is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated details of construction, but may be embodied in other constructions of shoe forms within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims:

1. A shoe form having, in combination, a shell-like fore-part of flexible material, a heel part hinged to the fore-part and means operated by the relative pivotal movement of the heel part and fore-part for expanding the fore-part horizontally comprising a link part eccentrically to the axis of the hinge, substantially as described.

2. A shoe form having, in combination, a shell-like forepart of flexible material having an opening in the bottom, a heel part hinged to the forepart, and means operated by the relative pivotal movement of the heel part and forepart for expanding the forepart comprising a toggle connected across the opening in the bottom of the for-apart and a connection between the toggle and the heel part, substantially as described.

3. A shoe form having in combination, a shell-like forepart of flexible material having a longitudinal opening in the bottom, a heel part hinged to the forepart, and means operated by the relative pivotal movement of the heel part and forepart for expanding the forepart laterally comprising a toggle connected across the opening in the bottom of the forepart and a link connected to the toggle and to the heel part eccentrically to the axis'of the hinge, substantially as described.

WILLIAM S. LOUGEE. Witnesses:

SAMUEL D. FELKER, EDNA F. Mnsnnvn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente Washington, D. C. 

